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citrange
Site Admin
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 590
Location: UK - 15 miles west of London
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 9:25 am |
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This morning a citrus miracle happened.
A pleasant, sunny, milder morning after a week of frosts down to -5C.
I wandered down to my greenhouse and thought someone was playing a joke at my expense. As I passed my 15 year-old in-ground citrange, there were 8 large fruits hanging from it. I shut my eyes for a moment, looked again and they were still there.
How could they have been developing there all summer without me noticing? I had seen no flowers, and had inspected the tree several times - even trimmed it a little. Yet they are definitely there now.
The fruits are low down and only on one side. The frost has caused some leaf drop, and a rhododendron branch seems to have moved a bit to reveal them.
I am absolutely stunned! I have waited 30 years to see outside fruit like this - I thought it would never happen.
Here it is. After the worst of summers, an English Carizzo Citrange:
Still in shock! Mike/Citrange |
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Laaz
Site Owner
Joined: 12 Nov 2005
Posts: 5664
Location: Dorchester County, South Carolina
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 10:40 am |
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Congrats Mike!
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Radoslav
Moderator
Joined: 03 May 2008
Posts: 453
Location: Slovak Republic
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 10:45 am |
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You got your first Christmas gift a bit early, so Merry Christmas. |
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MarcV
Moderator
Joined: 03 Mar 2010
Posts: 1489
Location: Schoten (Antwerp), Belgium
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Sanguinello
Gest
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 11:39 am |
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Congratulations !!!
Hope they are tasy ...  |
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citrange
Site Admin
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 590
Location: UK - 15 miles west of London
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 12:06 pm |
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| Quote: | | This plant grows in ground without any protection? |
Yes, planted close to other shrubs but absolutely no other protection.
I am away from home this afternoon but have been looking at my photo and thinking about the fruit.
Although I always believed this was a Carrizo that I had planted outside, I think now it may have been a citrumelo. The fruits are somewhat 'pyriform' and seem considerably larger than the 4cms spherical fruit of Carrizo which is quoted by USDA and other sources.
Tomorrow, I will have another look at the fruit and perhaps pick one.
I will also see if I can find my old notes about the seeds I was sent - I think in the 1980's.
I don't know whether the -5C will have damaged the fruit, and I don't know if they will ripen further in our winter.
I expect the taste will be awful - I'll let you know! |
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Laaz
Site Owner
Joined: 12 Nov 2005
Posts: 5664
Location: Dorchester County, South Carolina
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 12:39 pm |
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Looks more like Benton citrange than citrumello.
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hoosierquilt
Site Admin
Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 970
Location: Vista, California USA
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 2:32 pm |
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Well, whatever they turn out to be, congrats, Mike! What a lovely surprise. Keep us posted as how they do.
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Sylvain
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Nov 2007
Posts: 790
Location: Bergerac, France.
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 3:48 pm |
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Congratulation for the patience and the result! |
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Millet
Citruholic
Joined: 13 Nov 2005
Posts: 6657
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Sun 16 Dec, 2012 4:43 pm |
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Good things come to those who wait. - Millet |
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eyeckr
Citruholic
Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 344
Location: Virginia Beach, VA (zone 8a)
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| Posted: Mon 17 Dec, 2012 2:15 am |
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Great surprise! Congrats! |
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adriano
Citruholic
Joined: 24 Feb 2012
Posts: 357
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
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| Posted: Mon 17 Dec, 2012 1:11 pm |
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could that be the northernmost outdoors grown citrus?
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cristofre
Citruholic
Joined: 09 Mar 2010
Posts: 200
Location: Clayton, Georgia USA zone 7B/8A
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| Posted: Mon 17 Dec, 2012 4:25 pm |
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Amazing! I hope you will let us know how the fruit turns out. |
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citrange
Site Admin
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 590
Location: UK - 15 miles west of London
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2012 3:33 pm |
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I know I got over-excited about this, which probably seems a bit strange to everyone who lives in a real citrus climate.
Anyway, thanks for all your encouragement!
| Quote: | | Could that be the northernmost outdoors grown citrus? |
I know of one fruiting citrumelo in Nottingham - a city about 150 miles north of me. Also, Hamburg, Germany is home to some similar plants - about the same distance north. To call them 'citrus' could be controversial!
| Quote: | | Looks more like Benton citrange |
I don't think so. I have one small Benton plant. The fruits have never matured before dropping, but are always deeply furrowed. Also, when ripe they are supposed to be more orange in colour and smaller than my latest fruits.
Here are some photos:
These are typical leaves - about 10cms in height.
This is the one fruit I have picked so far. Yellow peel and flesh. It was 6.5cms diameter, 7.0cms height. This fits quite closely to Swingle citrumelo descriptions, and I certainly did plant some Swingle seeds sent from Riverside many years ago.
The cut fruit shows a very thick pith. This does sometimes happen when growing citrus in cool climates. Seeds were poorly formed, but had dark brown tips.
The taste was completely awful! To me, much worse than my poncirus fruits. I was very cautious not to try too much, but the taste was so acrid I had to wash my mouth out several times to get rid of it.
They may taste horrible, but to see them hanging there outside in our fairly miserable mid-winter makes me smile!!
Mike/Citrange |
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Sanguinello
Gest
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2012 3:38 pm |
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Don´t worry !
They look like great Oranges and are just to look at .. 
... and for practical jokes:
Hey pal, wanna taste my ORANGES ... ??? 
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